Taxonomy & naming
Otopharynx sp. "Brooksi Nkhata" has no describing author, no publication date, and no entry under a validated name in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes. The trade name follows the standard convention for an undescribed form allied to a known species: the genus, a reference to the described relative Otopharynx brooksi (Oliver in Eccles & Trewavas, 1989), and "Nkhata," the locality where this form has been recorded. Otopharynx brooksi was described from Thumbi Island West near Cape Maclear, in the southwestern arm of the lake, and the species is generally reported mainly from the southern part of the lake; Nkhata Bay lies far to the north, so a form recorded there under the "brooksi" label represents either a considerable range extension for the described species or a distinct, similarly patterned population, and no published study has resolved which. It should be treated as an unresolved, distinct entity pending formal study.
Morphology
No morphometric study has been published for this population specifically. Its trade name points to a resemblance to Otopharynx brooksi, which reaches about 6 in total length in males (somewhat less in females) and carries the genus's diagnostic three-spot melanic pattern — a suprapectoral, a supra-anal and a caudal-peduncle blotch — along with a fairly pointed head and sizeable, slightly oblique mouth suited to seizing small prey. That figure is used here only as a genus/species-typical reference rather than a direct measurement of the Nkhata Bay population. Sexual dichromatism is expected on general Malawi cichlid grounds, with breeding males more strongly coloured than the plainer females, though the specific pattern for this form has not been documented.
Habitat
Otopharynx sp. "Brooksi Nkhata" is recorded from Nkhata Bay, a well-known rocky bay on the north-western shore of Lake Malawi. Otopharynx brooksi, the described relative this form is named after, occupies the "intermediate" habitat where sand meets rocky outcrops — a productive zone for predatory haps, offering both open sand to patrol and rocky structure sheltering the smaller fishes they hunt — and the Nkhata Bay population is presumed to occupy broadly similar habitat. The surrounding water follows the general Lake Malawi profile — warm, hard and strongly alkaline — though the precise depth range specific to this population has not been documented.
Feeding
Otopharynx brooksi is a piscivore, reported to feed on small fishes, consistent with its elongate body, pointed head and grasping mouth. Otopharynx sp. "Brooksi Nkhata" is presumed to feed similarly, taking small fishes — including juvenile cichlids — from the sand-and-rock margin it is likely to inhabit, though no dedicated feeding study has been published for this Nkhata Bay population.
Mating
No courtship behaviour has been documented for this form. By analogy with Otopharynx brooksi and the wider Lake Malawi haplochromine assemblage, mature males are expected to develop bright nuptial colours and defend a territory or display site at the sand-rock interface, courting passing females with lateral displays and fin-spreading in the polygynous, lek-like manner typical of the flock. The specifics of any spawning territory at Nkhata Bay have not been recorded.
Breeding
As with all Lake Malawi haplochromines, reproduction is presumed to be by maternal mouthbrooding: the female would incubate the fertilised eggs in her buccal cavity for roughly three weeks, fasting throughout, before releasing free-swimming fry, which she may continue to shelter in her mouth when threatened. Clutches in haps of this size are typically modest, on the order of a few dozen eggs, but no figures have been recorded specifically for this population. The reproductive details given here are inferred from the consistent biology of the genus and the wider Malawi flock.
In the aquarium
Otopharynx sp. "Brooksi Nkhata" appears occasionally in the trade, reaching keepers mainly through specialist Malawi cichlid importers as a locality-labelled form. A tank for a fish of this size and predatory habit should provide a sand substrate with rockwork that reproduces the natural intermediate zone, giving open swimming space and broken cover. Water chemistry should follow the Lake Malawi standard — hard and alkaline, pH roughly 7.5 to 8.5, temperature in the mid-20s Celsius. As a presumed piscivore it should not be housed with fish small enough to be eaten, and like most Malawi haps it is best kept with robust, similarly sized tankmates. A varied carnivore diet of quality pellets and meaty frozen foods suits it, avoiding rich mammalian-based feeds.
Conservation
Otopharynx sp. "Brooksi Nkhata" has not been evaluated by the IUCN and, as an undescribed form, has no Red List status of any kind. Its described relative, Otopharynx brooksi, is assessed as Least Concern based on southern-lake records, but that assessment does not extend to a northern population recorded well outside the species' documented core range. No population-specific data exist to assess the status of the Nkhata Bay form. The honest statement is that it is unassessed.